The Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) achieved another three major milestones last week as the Boston South End Landmarks Commission approved the exterior design of our new building; the Boston Zoning Commission approved the zoning requirements for the project as petitioned by the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) Board; and the Public Health Council of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health approved our ‘Determination of Need’ application.
These approvals came within a period of 24 hours as the Boston South End Landmarks Commission held a hearing on Tuesday evening, November 7, 2017 and the Boston Zoning Commission and Public Health Council of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health held their respective meetings on Wednesday morning, November 8, 2017.
The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is Boston’s historic preservation agency as it performs a wide range of preservation planning and cultural resource management functions. The BLC and the nine local historic district commissions, one of which is the South End Landmarks Commission (SELC), are comprised of volunteers nominated by professional organizations and neighborhood groups specified in each commission’s legislation. The GSDM project is located in the South End Landmark District Protection Area. After Michael Donovan, Boston University Vice President for Real Estate & Facility Services, and Darin Daguanno, SmithGroupJJR Principal Architect, provided presentations describing the final design of our building, the SELC unanimously approved our project.
The Boston Zoning Commission, as an integral part of the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), maintains and updates Boston’s Zoning Code. In order to fulfill that responsibility, the Commission meets on a regular basis to adopt map and text changes to the Boston Zoning Code. The BPDA Board petitions the Zoning Commission to adopt such changes after a public dialogue and planning process. As in the case of GSDM, upon approving our project on October 12, 2017, the BPDA Board authorized such a petition to the Zoning Commission which upon receipt, issued a public notice of a Zoning Commission hearing by online advertising in the Boston Herald and other local newspapers at least 20 days prior to the hearing. After a combined presentation by James (Jake) Sullivan, Boston University Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs and Ken Ryan, Boston University Director of the City Relations Program, the petition from the BPDA Board pertaining to the zoning for our project was unanimously approved.
The Public Health Council (PHC) of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has had an important role in public health since it was established by legislation in the 1800’s. The PHC’s responsibilities include promulgation of most regulations; approval of Determination of Need (DoN) applications; advising the Department on major policy decisions, at the discretion of the Commissioner; and, granting the Commissioner authority to take necessary actions to protect the public health upon a declaration of a public health emergency by the Governor. The PHC consists of the Commissioner as Chair and fourteen members, twelve of whom are appointed by the Governor. The other two members, who must be non-providers, are appointed by the Secretary of Elder Affairs and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The PHC meets once a month at the Department of Public Health offices located in Boston. After a presentation by Nora Mann, Esq, Director of the Determination of Need Program, during which she provided a summarization of our DoN application and recommendation to the PHC that it be approved, Dr. Guarente and Dean Hutter addressed questions from the members of the Council. Upon conclusion of the Q&A, the PHC voted unanimously to approve our DoN application that a need exists for our GSDM Addition & Renovation Construction project.
As we move ever closer to the start of our construction, Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter and others from the leadership team will continue to keep you informed through announcements such as the above, meetings, forums and other forms of communication.
In addition, plans are underway to hold a series of meetings which will be dedicated to providing additional and more specific information as to our GSDM Addition & Renovation Construction Project. The first of these meetings, which will be for GSDM faculty and staff, will take place during the Faculty & Staff meeting scheduled for 3:00pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2017 in the 670 Albany Street Auditorium. Meetings will then be scheduled for our students and residents in early January 2018.